Expand use of drones with caution

Updated 3:20 pm, Saturday, December 1, 2012

Drone manufacturers advocating increased domestic use of the Predator B unmanned aircraft are giving big bucks to key members of Congress.

Drone manufacturers advocating increased domestic use of the Predator B unmanned aircraft are giving big bucks to key members of Congress.

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

Expand use of drones with caution

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Drones have revolutionized modern warfare, giving the United States new surveillance and offensive capabilities while removing American military personnel from harm's way. The Department of Homeland Security has effectively employed drones to monitor vast swaths of the sparsely populated, rugged terrain along the border between the United States and Mexico.

What works in very specialized circumstances for the military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection may not necessarily work or be appropriate for state or local law enforcement agencies. Lawmakers who are being lobbied to spend public money to expand the domestic use of drones should carefully consider the wisdom of doing so.

There's plenty of money to be made with the expanded use of drones. Homeland Security recently signed a deal to increase its 10-drone fleet by adding 14 additional Predator drones worth up to $443 million. Proponents are pushing public safety missions for drones, such as monitoring pipelines and finding lost hikers, as well as law enforcement applications.

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Yet even drone supporters such as Cuellar have questioned the rush to purchase them. “The first thing any agency should have is a strategic plan. I assumed they had a plan,” the Center for Investigative Reporting quoted Cuellar last summer, referring to Customs and Border Protection. “We have to know where we are going before we start buying any more of the assets.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety discontinued its $298,000 drone program in 2010 due to limits imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration, technical problems and poor video quality. The FAA limits are for air safety — drones can't detect other aircraft as readily as manned helicopters and planes. More drones in crowded airspace would increase the potential for accidents.

Civil libertarians raise a separate set of issues. While drones could clearly assist law enforcement agencies in dangerous situations, such as search and rescue operations during natural disasters, they also create the potential for unwarranted aerial surveillance.

Appropriate legal and regulatory fixes may exist for these problems. But such fixes need to be found before, not after, drone manufacturers help Congress, the states and municipalities discover new uses for their products.